Initial spread of the invasive green alga Caulerpa verticillata over coral reef communities in the Gulf of California C. J. Pérez-Estrada, R. RodríguezEstrella, D. S. Palacios-Salgado & D. A. Paz-García Coral Reefs Journal of the International Society for Reef Studies ISSN 0722-4028 Coral Reefs DOI 10.1007/s00338-013-1045-x
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Reef sites Initial spread of the invasive green alga Caulerpa verticillata over coral reef communities in the Gulf of California Caulerpa verticillata J. Agardh 1847 (Bryopsidales, Caulerpaceae) is an invasive and aggressive algal species that quickly spreads by extensive blooms and overgrows coral colonies until the corals are completely covered (Lapointe and Bedford 2010). Like other species in this genus, this alga has the potential to impact ecosystem diversity and function of coral reefs (Ferna´ndez and Corte´s 2005; Kruzˇic´ et al. 2008). In the tropical Eastern Pacific, this species has been reported only in Panama at 8N and in the Mexican Pacific at 19N (Mateo-Cid and Mendoza-Gonza´lez 1991; Pe´rez-Justavino et al. 2010). Little is known about the spread of this alga. In January 2010, C. verticillata (Fig. 1a) was recorded for the first time covering a few square meters in rocky areas at 2 m depth at Esterito (2410¢36.46†N, 11018¢21.16†W) and La Concha (2412¢4.72†N, 11018¢2.24†W), in the southwestern part of the Gulf of California. One year later, diver and aerial surveys revealed that the alga had increased its coverage at the same two locations ~200,700 and ~11,000 m2, respectively. In November 2011, the alga was found at Palmira (2411¢18.52†N, 11018¢12.00†W), covFig. 1 a Alga Caulerpa verticillata b C. verticillata growing over coral reef community c Detail of algal growth between branches ering ~30,000 m2 at 0.5–7 m depth and d, e Alga overgrowing colonies of Pocillopora damicornis and Porites panamensis, respectively. Scale bars 1 cm growing on a coral reef community (Fig. 1b). Algal growth occurred between branches of Pocillopora damicornis (Fig. 1c) and over P. damicornis and Porites panamensis colonies (Fig. 1d,e). Surveys of 12 sites (from 24.04N to 24.74N) between 2010 and 2012 indicated that C. verticillata so far remains limited to the three sites above. This is the first report of C. verticillata overgrowing coral reef communities in the Gulf of California. This finding emphasizes that regular reef monitoring will be necessary to evaluate the effects of this algal invasion on coral populations in this region. Acknowledgments We thank J. Zarate-Rustrian and F. Lo´pez-Rasgado for field assistance, J. Dı´az-Sa´nchez for ArcGIS calculations. We appreciate the comments of E. Serviere-Zaragoza and the editorial services of I. Fogel. References Ferna´ndez C, Corte´s J (2005) Caulerpa sertularioides, a green alga spreading aggressively over coral reef communities in Culebra Bay, North Pacific of Costa Rica. Coral Reefs 24:10 Kruzˇic´ P, Zˇuljevic´ A, Nikolic´ V (2008) The highly invasive alga Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea poses a new threat to the banks of the coral Cladocora caespitosa in the Adriatic Sea. Coral Reefs 27:441 Lapointe BE, Bedford BJ (2010) Ecology and nutrition of invasive Caulerpa brachypus f. parvifolia blooms on coral reefs of southeast Florida, U.S.A. Harmful Algae 9:1–12 Mateo-Cid LE, Mendoza-Gonza´lez AC (1991) Algas marinas be´nticas de la costa del estado de Colima, Me´xico. Acta Bota´nica Mexicana 13:9–30 Pe´rez-Justavino L, Gonza´lez-Otero A, Martı´nez I, Rı´os R, Tejada O, Villareal R (2010) Macroalgas de Playa Hermosa, Costa Pacı´fica de Chiriquı´, Panama´. Puente Biolo´gico 3:127–143
C. J. Pe´rez-Estrada (&) R. Rodrı´guez-Estrella D. A. Paz-Garcı´a Centro de Investigaciones Biolo´gicas del Noroeste, S.C., Instituto Polite´cnico Nacional 195, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur, 23096 La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico e-mail:
[email protected] D. S. Palacios-Salgado Escuela Nacional de Ingenierı´a Pesquera, (ENIP-UAN), Apto. Postal 10, 63740 San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico
Received: 10 January 2013 / Accepted: 11 May 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Coral Reefs (2013) DOI 10.1007/s00338-013-1045-x
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